Aqua
by Jakob
Summary: Her life was over. She hated to admit it, but she knew the realization was hitting her. Everything she had ever known, everything she had ever felt or touched had escaped her by force. It had taken from her without her consent, like a pacifier from a baby
1. Prologue

Her life was over. She hated to admit it, but she knew the realization was hitting her. Everything she had ever known, everything she had ever felt or touched had escaped her by force. It had taken from her without her consent, like a pacifier from a baby, causing her entire being to lose it's will. She broke down in tears, blurring the site of corruption from her eyes.

The sound of metal clashing together awoke Aqua from her dream. She quickly sat up and touched her face, discovering damp tears, and promptly wiped them away with the sleeve from her night gown. The sound of metal meeting metal that had awaken her continued, as it seeped through the walls of her containment. She hated residing in the room next to the Training Chambers, but figured it was better than sleeping in basement as most of the apprentices did. Glancing over at the beds of her peers, she saw them empty, as usual. It was no surprise to her, as the two normally awoke early in the morning for training. In fact, she was almost positive that it was them who were making the constant banging from next door.

Aqua opened her closet doors, picking out the outfit that matched all others in the small space, as she had no variety of clothing. It was standard for all apprentices clothes to be the same, but she had no complaints as she rather like the ones she wore from day to day. She quickly stripped herself of her light blue night gown and refitted in usual attire. A large mirror rested on the wall, and Aqua approached it. Looking into the mirror, she worked out the ruffles in her clothing, smoothing them down and making sure everything looked perfect. She hated to prep herself like this before going to the Training Chambers, as everything was sure to become askewed again, but she did it anyways. It made her feel special to look good, and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. On her bed stand sat a comb, waiting anxiously to be combed through Aqua's silky blue hair. The inanimate wishes of the comb were soon fulfilled as Aqua did just that while singing a tune she had learned in her childhood.

"By colors, by colors,  
May all things arise.  
That there be no others,  
as bright as the sky..."

Aqua thought her voice was terrible, but figured there was no one around to confirm her suspicion and continued to hum the rest of the song. Once done with her hair, she made one last check in the mirror and headed out the door, turning left for the Training Chamber. 


	2. Chapter One

Aqua arrived promptly at the Training Chamber door, approximately four seconds after she had left her room. She banged on the door, hard, and the metal clanking from inside stopped immediately. Shuffling could be heard inside, as well as a few short shouts.

"Just a minute!" Came one voice.

"We'll be out in a sec!" The second rang out.

And suddenly it was silent. No voices, no noises, nothing. Aqua tilted her head the the side in confusion, and raised her hand to bang on the door a second time. Suddenly, the door cracked open and a slim face appeared, causing Aqua to abruptly stop her fist. It was Ven. He looked up at Aqua's hand.

"Uh, hi. You gonna hit me, or what?" He asked.

Aqua returned her hand to her side quickly and gave a large smile. She glanced at Ven, noticing he was fully clothed in his training uniform. It wasn't actually a uniform, but everyone insisted to call it that. It was instead several metal plates covering the vital parts of the user. The metals were held to the leather of the regular clothing with a sort of magick, causing them to hover slightly over the material. It looked neat, Aqua always noticed.

"Sorry," She recovered, "Mind if I join you?"

Ven returned her smile. "Not at all, grab your plates there."

He pointed to the wall next to the door. Aqua approached the wall and tapped it in various places. Pulsing blue lights appeared with each touch on the wall, every pulse making a low sounding tone. She tapped it a total of four times, all in different places, and on the fourth tap the wall churned with the sounds of gears from inside. Three panels slowly extended from the wall, each carrying about two plates each. Aqua grabbed plate by plate and placed them over her vitals, upon which they hovered above her clothes. Once she was fully equipped, Aqua headed inside, thanking Ven for holding the door open for her.

Aqua always found the Training Chamber unreal. It wasn't the floor that amazed her, as the floor was as plain as every other in the building, but rather the walls that always caught her attention. Large pillars extended from the walls, moving in and out on the will of the room. Every place where there wasn't a pillar, large panels covered the walls, shifting from time to time. The walls had to be this particularly agile, due to the constant movements made by keyblade wielders when fighting. Jumping around on the walls was necessary in order to avoid your opponent. The movement of the walls not only made this possible, but also incredibly difficult. The walls were designed for maximum training purposes, making sure that each pupil was tested to his, or her, full potential. Aqua always enjoyed the challenge.

At the far end of the chamber, Aqua could faintly make out a figure in the distance. The person's white clothing blended with the color of the walls. Ven waved to the person from next to Aqua, and received a small wave in reply. The person's voice was made clear through the large room, echoing off the walls.

"Since when do you train?" Stated Terra, rather rudely.

Aqua rolled her eyes. "Since you became a worthy opponent."

Terra laughed, "Well, I guess we'll see about that." 


	3. Chapter Two

Terra held out his hand, as if requesting for something. His request was soon met as translucent blue patterns formed around his hand. Aqua had seen this many times before, and folded her arms in dis-amusement. Terra just laughed and focused intently on his hand as solid shapes began to form. A faint steel handle was forming, and Terra latched a grip onto it immediately. The rest of the handle formed around his hand, the cold blue metal forming into something of a square. His eyes lit up as he watched the rest of the blade form, extending from the handle a few feet before forming several large teeth like structures. Once the keyblade's appearance was made full, Terra let his arm drop down by his side, allowing the keyblade to rest lightly against the floor.

"Beat that." Terra bragged.

Aqua laughed. With one swift motion, she started to spin in a circle. Glittering light blue patterns erupted from her feet as she spun. The patterns grew vivid as they crawled up her body toward her out-reaching hand.

"Summoning your keyblade does not determine your skill," She began.

In a flash of white, Aqua abruptly stopped her spinning. The blue patterns instantly flew from her hand and a keyblade was revealed.

"...it determines your beauty."

The blue patterns fell around Aqua and her keyblade, causing both her and the metal to shine with an invisible sparkle. She faintly heard a gasp from Ven behind her.

Terra laughed and directed his keyblade in front of him. He reconfirmed his tight grip on the metal and lunged at Aqua without warning. Aqua jumped out of the way, attaching herself to one of the panels on the wall. Terra recovered from his miss and jumped after Aqua, attaching onto the panel next to her. Their keyblades met three times before the panels shifted, forcing them to jump back to the ground. Ven watched anxiously from the sidelines.

"Come on, Terra." Aqua provoked, "Don't tell me that's all you got."

She winked at him with a smile before casting a fire spell in his direction. Terra jumped into the air out of the way, unknowing that Aqua was following up with an attack from behind. She landed her keyblade square on Terra's shoulder, sending him flying back down to the floor. Terra showed no sign of pain as he launched himself right back at Aqua and attempted a full power swing at her. Aqua, surprised, quickly put up her keyblade in defense. Their blades met, vibrating violently with a metallic clang. The hit pushed Aqua against the wall, and she latch onto one of the panels. Terra landed back on the ground and looked up at her.

"It isn't," Terra responded, "I was just going easy on you."

Aqua shrugged and looked over at Ven.

"Hey, you want to join?" She questioned.

Ven nodded, and held his hand firmly at his side. His keyblade appeared instantly in a small flash of white, nothing special like Terra or Aqua. He never saw a purpose in specializing the summoning of a keyblade, so he never practiced it. Besides, he had always been different when it came to keyblades. Always holding it differently, using it differently, he never bothered following standards. It wasn't his style.

He sprinted to where Aqua and Terra were standing.

"So how are we going to do this?" Terra asked, "One on one on one, two on one, or what?"

"Let's do two on one," Aqua suggested, "Me and Ven against you. That is, if you can."

She gave Terra a joking impression.

Terra glared at her and tightened his grip on his keyblade.

"Oh, I can," He assured her.

He jogged towards Ven, dragging is keyblade behind him. The edge of the blade made a screeching sound, causing Ven to cringe. Terra seized the opportunity and pushed himself quickly at him. Ven brought his keyblade up, deflecting the blow, as Aqua took a swing at Terra from the side. Terra pushed away Ven just in time to block Aqua's attempt, falling on his back. Terra and Aqua's keyblades were taught against each other as she leaned over him.

"Had enough?" She asked.

Terra sighed and kicked out Aqua's legs, causing her to fall over. He stood up and dusted himself off.

"For today, yeah." He stated. "I think I'll take a nap."

He de-summoned his keyblade and headed for the door, removing his plates as he left.

"What's his problem?" Aqua thought, still on the floor.

She propped herself up using her keyblade and wandered over to Ven, who was still spread lying on the ground.

"You ok?" She said, placing her chin on her keyblade, butt in the air.

Ven was staring at the ceiling.

"I really suck, don't I?" He said, depressed, "I'll never make Master."

Aqua positioned herself over him and held out her hand.

"Not without help you won't, and I'll help you all the way." She promised.

Ven shifted his gaze from the ceiling to Aqua's face. He smiled at her, she smiled back.

"Alright then, I'll try as hard as I can!" He decided.

He clasped his hand onto Aqua's and pulled himself up. Not wasting a moment, he ran for the exit, de-summoning his keyblade and removing his plates on the way. Aqua followed behind him at a slower pace. 


	4. Chapter Three

"So what do you guys wanna do?" Ven asked.

They were in their room, each on their own respective beds. Terra was laying down facing the ceiling and Ven was sitting down, throwing a ball against the wall. Aqua was sitting down as well, watching as Ven's ball rebounded and returned to his hands.

"How should I know," Aqua sighed, "There's nothing to do around her--"

She was cut off by a muffled ringing sound in the room. A phone. Aqua and Ven looked at Terra, who was scrambling around inside his pocket for his cell. He found it, flipped it out and open, and placed it to his ear.

"Mhm...yea...alright." Terra conversed.

He flipped shut his cell and placed it back in his pocket. He stood up, gaining Aqua and Ven's attention.

"They want to see us at briefing," He announced, "Didn't say what it was about."

Aqua's eyes dimmed. She knew something was wrong, it was not normal to be calling for a mission briefing this early in the morning. She could sense Terra felt the same. In complete contrast to the both of them, Ven's eyes lit up.

"Briefing?" He exclaimed, "That must mean they're going to send us on a mission!"

Terra nodded at Ven and headed for the door. Aqua followed behind him, motioning for Ven to tag along behind her.

--

As they walked down the hallway, there was an awkward silence between the three. Ven had realized that Terra and Aqua were sensing the worst, and his voice spoke in disappointment.

"This isn't good, is it?" He groaned.

Terra and Aqua both nodded silently. Aqua put her arm around Ven's shoulder, comforting him. She thought she was over exaggerating by doing so, but it seemed to make him happy.

They reached the briefing room quickly. The entrance was rather nice, a large door with a single golden handle. The handle was carved into an intricate keyblade, providing a visual treat as you entered. Terra grasped his hand around the handle and pried the door open, allowing Aqua and Ven to enter before him. He followed close behind.

The briefing room wasn't anything special. It was one of the more dull rooms in the temple, with blan colored walls and no windows to be seen. In the middle of the room a long black table extended from one wall to the other, and chairs were evenly spaced along the sides of it. Too large, glorified chairs stood at each end. At the far end of the table, a man sat comfortably in one of the large chairs. He was wearing a uniform similar to Terra's. His hair was jet black and combed back and a nonchalant look covered his face.

"Welcome." The man greeted them. His voice was monotone.

Terra, Aqua, and Ven each took a bow of respect. The man nodded in appreciation.

"Please, sit down." He ordered.

The three migrated over to the chairs on the side on the table. They each slid a chair out from under, sat down, and them scooted themselves back in. Aqua kept her arms on her lap, while giving a polite smile to the man. Ven looked down at the ground, twiddling his thumbs at his knees. Terra folded his arms over the table and looked at the man with a serious face.

"Why have we been requested?" Terra questioned, a slight annoyance in his voice.

The man tilted his head sideways, resting it on his hand. He focused on Terra.

"You act as if this is not an honor, Terra," The man accused, "To be given such a mission as I am about to bestow, you should be glad."

Upon hearing the word 'mission', Ven raised his head in interest and turned to look at the man.

He exclaimed, "What kind of mission?"

"Settle down, Ven." Aqua whispered.

"No, no," The man interjected, "It is good that he is excited. That is just the type of attitude I expected from all of you."

He shot a glare at Terra. Terra turned his head away in shame, bestowing an awkward silence on the room.

"If I may ask, sir," Aqua began, interrupting the silence, "Just what is our task to be done?"

The man directed his gaze from Terra to Aqua.

"I am glad you have asked, Aqua," He answered, "Your task is one of utmost importance. Master Xehanort, you may know him, and his apprentice have suddenly dropped out of contact with us. We have no knowledge of his whereabouts, nor of what he is doing.

The man placed his elbows on top of the table and folded his hands together.

"While it may be a simple search party mission, we advise that you proceed with caution, as the truth of Xehanort's disappearance may define a larger problem. Understand?"

The three nodded. While Ven couldn't sit still with excitement, Aqua and Terra looked at each other in dismay. They both agreed mentally that the man wasn't telling them the whole truth about the scenario.

The man continued, "While I was hesitant to assign this particular message to you three, your Master heavily suggested that I do s--"

"You've heard from our Master?" Terra cut him off, "What news of him do you hold?"

The man paused for a moment, insulted by Terra's interruption. Regardless, he answered his question.

"You're master," He replied, "Was last heard from in the Enchanted Kingdom, consulting with the residents there about classified information."

Aqua thought about questioning what the information was, but saw it was for the best not to.

Instead, she asked, "When are we to leave on our mission?"

The man pulled some papers from his pocket, reviewing them.

"'Terra --, Aqua --, and Ventus -- have been confirmed for departure on Mission #299234 as of the 4th day of Eversun,'" He read from a piece of yellow paper, "'Said participants are to depart promptly on the 5th of Eversun at 1300."

Terra, Aqua, and Ven all turned at the same time to look at the clock that rested on blank wall behind the man. 1200. They were to leave in one hour.

They reached the briefing room quickly. The entrance was rather nice, a large door with a single golden handle. The handle was carved into an intricate keyblade, providing a visual treat as you entered. Terra grasped his hand around the handle and pried the door open, allowing Aqua and Ven to enter before him. He followed close behind. 


End file.
